An Update from the Roswell Public Library

Okay, I am not at all affiliated with the public library.  I just wanted to title my post like that for fun, since our internet won't be back up for another 2 weeks, leaving me to utilize the free wi-fi at the library.

We had a great Christmas!  It was so wonderful to be together.  We woke up Christmas day, opened presents, and then took a nap!  We got invited to go to the Church to play volleyball with a few families in the ward, so of course, that was hard to pass up.  After about 2 hours of playing, I became extremely tuckered out, and have been sore ever since.  It had been over 1 year since I played (before we moved here).  I have missed it, and it shows on my skill level!  I look forward to getting involved, somehow, with some volleyball players once the baby is born.

Now that Christmas is over, a new excitement begins.  We officially get to start preparing for baby!  Ha!  Nothing like the last minute right?  We do have a few supplies of blankets and the burp clothes that I made for the baby, but now comes the real prep.  Furniture, clothes, diapers, wipes, and so much more.  It is fun, and we look forward to it!

So here comes my interaction question.  Our house is tiny.  Any of you who have been there, understand what I am talking about.  We have two bedrooms, so Baby K will be sharing a room with his two big sisters, until we wind up moving on to a bigger and better house (believe me, it will be a while--we have the opportunity to pay down a lot of debt with the rent payment that we pay).

We need to become seriously more organized.  I thrive on an organized atmosphere, but it rarely is as organized as I would like it.  How do you organize things in a tight space?  We have plenty of storage cupboards and spaces, we just need to utilize them a bit better.  Do you know of any organization websites?  Anything that will help at all?  I suppose this is the direction that my nesting is taking!  I look forward to hearing from you!

Happy New Year to you all, if I do not "see" you before then!

A Merry Christmas!

I wanted to take the time out to make a little post for yall.  My internet has been down, and I'm not sure when it will be back up and running for sure.

I wanted to make sure you all knew that I was thinking of you this holiday season!

Merry Christmas!!!

Sincerely,

Evelyn Campbell Curtis

Busy!

I can't really remember being as busy during this time of the year, as I have been this year.  Deep down, I know that it is always busy.  There are so many fun activities to crunch into a few short weeks.  Being in the Young Women, we seem to have tons of events to attend as well.  Just before Thanksgiving, we had a road show, where all of the wards in the stake put together a mini play.  That took a few months to plan and practice for.  Then just a few weeks after that, we had another big dinner to recognize the outstanding girls and the things that they had accomplished during the year.  It is a lot of fun to be a part of it all, and Big T and Little H adore each of the girls.  But I find that it gets exhausting at times.

The Monday after the dinner for the young women, I crashed hard.  Being in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy (and nearing the end even), I find that I tire much more quickly.  On Sunday, I taught a lesson, so most of my effort over the weekend went into preparing that lesson.  It was more spiritual and emotional effort...but that seems to even be draining, right? 

Back to Monday.  That day, I let Hoss drive to work.  All I had to do was walk Big T and Little H the 5 blocks to school to drop them off, then pick them up.  When I got home, guess what I did?.... yup.  I laid on the couch.  I am not sure I even got up to eat a ton. 

I swore after Monday, that Tuesday, I would get up and get the laundry done, and the dishes done, and the dusting done.... you get the idea.  But after I got back from my walk of taking the girls to school, guess where I found myself?  On the couch.... again.

This repeated for about 4 days.  I couldn't believe how tired the previous month had made me.  Once the weekend rolled around, I felt better and got a ton of things done.  We got most of our Christmas shopping done, and I attended 4 different Christmas parties.  That was exhausting in and of itself! 

I keep wondering when it all will slow down.  I think it has finally sunk in, that it might slow down once I have retired.  Maybe I should set a goal to retire at 30?  :)

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season!  I sure love this time of year!  The music, the decorations, and most especially our opportunity to reflect on our Savior, Jesus Christ.  His birth was the only thing that would change or affect every single person who has lived, who does live, and will live!  Many may not realize how vast the affect has been right now, but I know that every person will one day recognize that Jesus is the Christ.

He is the one person to whom I can turn no matter what happens to me.  He is the one person that I trust more than my husband.  He is the one person that I will put my whole lot in with, because I know that He is there.  I know that He loves me.  He didn't want to just make the way back to our Father in Heaven for the important or famous people... He made that path for me too... little old me.  I am nothing, yet I have such a wonderful gift and promise when I try to emulate Christ's example.  Boy do I have a lot of work, but I have hope.

Do you have hope?

This is a beautiful painting.  I love the look of love and wonder on Mary's face.

Merry Christmas!  May you draw closer to Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ during this month of reflection!  Let the busy slow down long enough to think about what is important.  I love you all!

You Might be a Cynic if......

Over the years, I have developed a slightly cynical attitude.  I never realized just how cynical I can be, until very recently.  I just considered it my dry sarcastic humor....which I do believe I still have. 

I just had this thought pop into my mind.  "You might be a cynic if you question a person's actions to have underlying motives."  That is me.

So in the last few weeks, I have done a lot of reflecting.  I have set a goal to be more positive, and not so cynical.  I think Hoss will appreciate this goal, since he sees the majority of my negative thoughts and attitudes.  I am not considering this a New Year's Resolution... I think those are silly...and besides, I am starting right now.  I am setting a personal goal to strive for, one day at a time, every year for the rest of my life.  

It is easier to chip away at the sculpture one tap at a time, rather than expecting a few taps to reveal a masterpiece.

Here we go!

Photo Shoot

During the summer, Grandma D, in Idaho, decided to do a photo shoot of each of her grandchildren with costume change and everything.  Well, Big T and Little H were both unable to participate, due to the 1,000 mile distance in between.

Last week, Grandma D came for a visit!  She came with Grandpa K, Uncle A, his daughter Little A,  and.... Uncle A Uncle W (There, how's that?).  Wow, there are a lot of A names!  Little A is Little H's same age and bestest friend in the whole world!  I hope yall follow this!  It can get confusing!

Grandma D announced that she wanted to do a photo shoot with the three little girls, even with the wardrobe changes too!  The girls were oh so excited!  We gathered the outfits that they would wear and set off before the sun went down.

The kids really enjoyed Grandma D being the photographer.  They posed and smiled.  It was very cute.  Here are the pictures that Grandma D took!

The trio made me laugh.  They were rockin' out all kinds of different poses.

Little H was unsure what pose to do, so this was her classic.

Big T!

She really took her assignment to pose seriously.  She thought her poses out.

Little H!
She really loved having her picture taken.  I love her necklaces.

There were over 100 pictures to choose from.  I'm sure I'll break out the others in the future! 

While us girls were taking pictures, the men went to the Alien Museum.  Exciting right?  Was it all you could have hoped for?  Here are a few of those pictures, taken by Grandpa K!

They have missed each other.

 Thanks for the fun visit!  It was so much fun to see you!  It was especially fun for Hoss, since it had already been one year since he has seen any of you!  We look forward to future visits to Idaho, and you visiting NM again!

Only In Roswell #1

I have been taking pictures at random of things that I find amusing here in Roswell.  It is mostly of cars though.  You wouldn't believe the cars, trucks, and vans that many will deck out by putting on "sweet rims."  So this will be the first of many pictures from my Only In Roswell series.

The Chaser: Notice the large wheels that pop out from the side.

I chased this guy down.  I saw it a ways ahead of me and decided to engage pursuit.  Little H was with me, and she was just excited about nabbing this picture.  We promptly showed it to Hoss, as we had been on the way to pick him up from work.

More to come!

Disclaimer:  If you for any reason disagree with my cynical view of wasting money on cars like this, then please, do not take this to heart.  It is merely my point of view and opinion.

PS  if you have any pictures of something you find "Only in Roswell" I'd love to post it!  So email me!

Halloween!

We have had 2 cameras for quite some time now.  Our older camera is was a Sony digital camera.  It wasn't the most awesome camera, but it did its job pretty well.  A few weeks ago, it got dropped on the tile.  I think I have mentioned this before.  The girls loved to take pictures with it.  We actually thought that we would graduate it to them when we bought a new one...after all, it was 6 years old.  Oh well.  The reason I tell you this is because I had to figure out how to get the pictures off of our newer digital/video camera.  It is a bit more intricate, and I have always been able to play ignorant when it comes to using it.  However, now that it is nearly my sole access to current pictures, I had to learn.  So without further ad due....

 Carving Pumpkins!

I have never been able to get Big T and Little H

to actually put there hands in... till this year!

Before we continue.  I might add, that I always try to get my girls to dress up like something else just as sweet as they are.  Both usually have different ideas.  Little H was supposed to be a mummy, but when it came time to find the bandages (which I swear I knew right where they were), they were no where to be found so we improvised!

 Trunk or Treating!

 Big T was dead set on being a vampire.  Spooky huh?!

 Little H was dead set on being a vampire Snow White.

Little H was Big T's first victim!

  BOO!

 Hoss took plenty of pictures!  The girls had so much fun at the trunk or treat.  Unfortunately, we failed to get pictures there.  There were tons of people there.  Cars filled the parking lot.  The kids weaved in and out of the isles of cars.  I have to say, it put the Idaho trunk or treats to shame.  Probably because every church building does it in Idaho.  But no matter where you are, it is sooo much fun!

My only regret from this Halloween?  No one seemed to hand out any Bit o' Honey candies!

One of Those Days

Today has been one of those very emotional pregnant days.  I don't have any clue why... it just is.  Thus far, after 6 months and 1 week, I have not had the irrational desire to cry.... until today.  I just thought I would mention to you how I am feeling today.


On another note.  I have been looking through my old blog.  I think there are some real gems posted there, so I am planning to post them here and there, as I think they should be.  Here is the very last post I had.  It was shortly after we moved here to Roswell.  If you have read it and don't want to, then just pass on by.  I personally think it is pretty entertaining.  It brought a smile to my face this wonderfully emotional day.

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Posted March 3, 2010

Today we went to a little town called Artesia. It is 40 minutes south (depending on how fast you drive) from Roswell. Hoss had a work meeting there this morning. Being spring break, the girls and I went with him. In Artesia, there are a lot of little monuments and sight seeing things to visit. The girls and I were spending some time in a little side alley on Main St. They have fun little fountains with little rivers and neat art work telling the history of the area.

Big T and Little H were having a good time jumping over the little rivers and splashing their hands in the water fountains. I warned them repeatedly that they needed to be careful so they would not fall into the water. But they said, "OKAY!!!!" and kept on playing. I turned my back on Big T to see what Little H was up to (she is the one prone to accident), and I heard a sound like someone was taking a huge breath in (imagine jumping into a really cold lake or something... you tend to inhale really fast and hard-that is what I heard). I turned around to see Big T climbing out of the water fountain. She had fallen in to the 1 1/2 foot deep water and managed to get completely drenched, head to toe. I couldn't help but laugh. It was a comical sight. She was not as thrilled with it, but it made for a very interesting morning!

The finale.

Big T's miserable picture of being soaked.

It was between 50-60 degrees.

Hey, she got a new outfit out of the deal!

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Keep Checking!  I have some pictures of the girl's bedroom coming soon.  Our digital camera mysteriously was dropped on the tile floor.  Tile plus anything breakable equals anything breakable, broken.  So, the most recent pictures are on Hoss's cell phone.  As soon as I get those...... 

Christmas wish list:  A new digital camera for me!  (hint, hint--Hoss)

Are you REALLY there?

Something happened to us today.  I am still quite speechless about it.  Let me give you a bit of background.

It just so happens that Hoss was paid two weeks ago for his final week at both of his previous jobs.  We knew that money would be tight, but we had no idea just how tight.  Hoss found out that he would not be getting paid from Leprino until November 12th.  His last day at UPS and the BSA was October 22, a there were a lot of bills and food items that needed to be paid for between that last bit of pay and his first paycheck.

We are here now, coming up on that payday.  We have been able to meet all of our obligations, as well as keep food on our table.  How did we do this?  We turned to prayer and were able to solve the problem.  With rent paid, and a few other major bills that would not wait as well, we were left with $10 to get some groceries for this week.  We had been praying that we would be able to spread our table and have sufficient for our needs, getting us through the week.

Due to prayer, we have been blessed in 2 ways since the beginning of Saturday the 8th.  The first was when we went to the store to get a few staples with the remainder of our money, we found that the cheese and bread was on sale.  I do not believe that this was a coincidence.  We had just enough for our little list of needs.  The only question was if it was enough to get us to Friday.  As we went to bed last night, we slept with a prayer in our hearts that the 'five loaves and 2 two fishes' would stretch.  We got up.  It was a wonderful Sabbath morning.  No one was running late, and we left our house with plenty of time to pick up a brother in the ward who needs a ride each week (we'll call him Brother D).  This man is a recent convert to the Church, and he cannot drive, hence why we pick him up each week.  As Hoss got out to open the door for Brother D. he went to shake Hoss's hand.  In it was a $20 bill.  He then said, "My sister told me to give this to you.  She said that God told her to give it to you to pay for gas."

After dropping Brother D off at his house, I asked Hoss what was said.  I was speechless.  And at that moment, the girls began to sing one of their primary songs.  Here are the first few phrases... it happens to be one of my very favorites from my time in primary:

"Heavenly Father, are you really there?
And do you hear and answer every child's prayer?
Some say that heaven is far away,
But I feel you close around me when I pray" (A Child's Prayer).

I have had many witnesses of the truth of this sweet song.  But I wanted to share this one experience.  It is important to know that Heavenly Father is there, and that He is listening to our prayers.  I don't know about anyone else, but I am so grateful to know that He is there.  This experience came out of no where.  We were blessed through the hands of someone else.  We would never consider asking Brother D. for gas money.  In fact, it had never even crossed our mind.  However, we are very grateful for him and his sister for listening to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  Through him, our 'five loaves and two fishes' were multiplied (Mark 6: 36-44).

Worst Enemy--A Sleepless Mind

Do you ever have one of those days, where something is bugging you, and you just can't figure out why?  It is one of those types that keeps you up all night.  You play out every possible scenario in hopes that you can conclude something.

Well, I had one of those days yesterday....and one of those nights last night.  To this minute (currently 5:45 am), I have been awake since 1:30 am.  Oh, I fell asleep all right, around 10pm.  Slept like a baby, until I dreamt about some weird ghost that woke me up.  I think it was this "issue" that woke me up...it wasn't done being thought about.

I woke up, and made my multinightly trip to the bathroom.  Got a drink, because my throat and mouth were so dry, then went back to bed.  My eyes didn't close.  I just laid there wide awake.  I would close them in hopes of some kind of sleep... even dozing off, not last night though.  I finally got up.  I pondered about my little problem even more, then turned to the only outlet that I have at 3 am.  Writing.  Yes, I tossed and turned for 1 1/2 hours.... so I wrote.  I wrote a long over-due blog post for Sora's Journey, and now I am writing this...possibly a bit mindlessly.  I just hope that my mind will slow down long enough for me to take a nap today.

Anyway, my ambitions are to fold clean laundry and get caught up on the rest of the dirty.  What are you ambitions today?

I think I might look like this come lunch time.

 

 And I think I looked like this to Hoss as he was getting ready for work.

 Keep Checking!!  (said with a bleary eyed grin)... anyone who knows me, knows that I get delirious and goofy when super tired.  Should be an interesting day.

Taking a test...

Day 5 at Leprino.  Hoss is taking a fork lift test.  

 

 

Blanket #2

I am pleased to announce that I finished my final sewing project for the time being.  I mentioned briefly in the previous post that I had planned to make it a simple blanket, sewing two pieces of fabric together to make the blanket.  That plan fell through when I found a hole in the middle of the front piece of flannel.  So, I improvised and made the blanket a block style quilt blanket (no batting).  I think it turned out better than I imagined!

It is a nursing blanket.  I had never heard of or even imagined these when I had Big T and Little H.  I would just hide them under the blanket when I nursed, and sometimes it would drop down, making nursing in front of people kind of awkward and difficult.  When my sister-in-law had her baby boy about one year ago, I saw her nursing blanket with a strap that held the blanket up.  Ingenious right?  So, I decided to make my own, and here it is!

 The blue stripes are flannel, and the white is just a thin cotton fabric.

I wanted it to be warm, yet not too thick, as I will take it around with me.

A close up at the blocks.  This was fun to make, and I was pleased that it lined up so well.

It measures approximately, 40"x 36"  I am guessing. :)

As you can see, the front and back are the exact same, just reversed,

so a striped block is backed with a white one.

I think everyone in my family is glad that I finally got it finished!  I only have one more blanket planned.  That won't be happening for a few more months though... maybe after my final class for the year in December.  It is a car seat blanket.  They are THE best things ever!  Stay tuned for that.  I love them!

I hope that everyone has a fantastic Halloween!  We will be putting together costumes for Big T and Little H tonight.  Nothing extraordinary, but it should be fun!

Keep Checking!!

Projects

I seem to stack up projects like no tomorrow.  All things that I want to get done, at the same time.  I actually tend to get anxiety over it.  I want to have a spotlessly cleaned house, scrapbook, card make, write, and so much more.  For the writing, I want to write on my novel, and blog.  Not to mention the cleaning that I have to do and other obligations that come across my path like visiting teaching, grocery shopping (which I loath), and other various errands.

Since I am not a super woman, guess what tends to get neglected?  I'll let you imagine what you want to!  After being sick for 2 1/2 weeks straight, then working hard to get caught up in my class (which I completed 3 days early), I began a few of the projects that I have had lined up for a few months.  Two baby blankets, two baby changing pads, and 8 burp rags were on the list. 

It took me most of the weekend to complete the majority of these.  It was fun, especially since my sister was making some burp clothes for some of her friends as well.  Here are some pictures of these fun activities.  The bad thing is that when I start a project like these, I have a hard time focusing on other things.... so the sooner I get it done the sooner I can move on!  Ha!

Some pictures:

My sewing workspace.  The computer is so that I can chat with my sister.  That is how we do our projects "together."

Another angle, showing my lovely desk.  This is where I write, blog, homework, craft etc etc.

The adorable burp cloths.  These were fun to make.  I have never had fancy burp clothes for my daughters, so I decided to make some for Baby.  The link for the pattern is here.

Nicely folded and stacked up.

I LOVE how this blanket turned out!  I have made one before in the same style, but it did not turn out as awesome.  I love the little monkeys and the soft plush fleece back.  This blanket measures approximately 36"x 30"  Big T and Little T always want to cuddle with it.

Close up corner shot.

Full blanket spread out.  It is the perfect size for a little baby!

One more.  I am really just trying to give you a feel for the thing. lol

The changing pads.  These were fun to make too.  It is a little clutch changing pad that is held shut with a bit of velcro.  I got the pattern here.

Okay, so I don't have any diapers or a little wipes box, so I had to improvise!  I Love The Count of Monte Cristo. :)

Little H really felt the need to take a picture.  It was supposed to be a picture of the design I drew for another blanket (blanket #2).  Oh well... 

About blanket #2, it is a nursing blanket.  I flattened out the fabric to cut it to the right size, when I noticed a little hole right in the middle!  It was going to be a simple blanket, just sewing two pieces of fabric together, turning it inside out, then finishing it up with a neck strap... well, with that hole... :(  I was not happy.  So, I changed the design a little bit and made it more complicated.  It is now going to be a little block blanket without batting.  It is plenty warm here, and I think the flannel will be sufficient for nursing.  So all of the blocks are cut and near half of the rows are sewn together.  I just need a few more days on it, then I will post it up!

It is all so much fun.  I like to sew, but I am not all that awesome at it.  I try, but I also don't have patients to iron everything and make sure all of the fabric is cut perfectly and evenly.  I just want to be done with it.

After my sewing projects are over, I won't know what to do with myself.  I have homework to do, naturally, and housework too.  I guess I will just have to hurry and get this blanket done so that I can move on to those other things! Ha!

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Keep Checking!